An extension of Sports Business News, the largest online sports business news service -- featuring the comments and insights of SBN Publisher Howard Bloom

Thursday, June 07, 2012

Fate, Destiny and LeBron James

The
Miami Heat won the NBA’s Eastern Conference last year, losing the NBA
championship to the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat are two wins away from
making it to the 2012 NBA Finals. The mountain the Heat will try and
climb their opponents in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Boston
Celtics are one win away from winning making it to the NBA Finals and
the Celtics will host the Heat in game six of the Eastern Conference
finals Thursday night at the Boston Garden. The Heat are led by LeBron
James – recognized with his third NBA most valuable player award last
week. If the Heat lose Thursday night in Boston or Saturday night in
Miami if the Heat force a game seven – James will be blamed for the
team’s failure.

The Heat were pushed to the brink of elimination Tuesday night after
the Celtics defeated the Heat 94-90 at Miami’s Amerian Airlines Arena.
LeBron led the Heat in scoring with 30 points and collected 13 rebounds.
30 points, 13 rebounds – what exactly didn’t James deliver for the
Heat? It’s not what LeBron James did or didn’t do, but the image – the
persona James has. Three times in his first nine years in the NBA James
has won the league’s MVP award – that aside LeBron James remains today
what he has been for much of his career – loved and respected by many,
detested by even more NBA fans.

James was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the number one
overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. In his first professional game he
recorded 25 points, setting an NBA record for most points scored by a
prep-to-pro player in his debut outing. James grew up in Akron, Ohio –
less than 60 miles from Cleveland.
James attended St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in Akron, where he
starred as a two-sport athlete, playing basketball and football. He
appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school junior, the
Cavs believed they had drafted the best basketball player the Cleveland
area had ever produced when they selected LeBron with the first overall
pick. James was that and even more during his first seven years in the
NBA, as a member of the Cavaliers.

LeBron has earned more than $100 million during his first nine NBA
seasons. The first contract he signed with Nike in May 2003 –
seven-years and $93 million. James signed an even bigger contract with
Nike in March 2010.

"LeBron James is one of the world's best basketball players and a
global sports icon that has transcended generations and cultures," Nike
spokesman Kejuan Wilkins said. "Nike's relationship with LeBron has
created innovative basketball products and captivating campaigns. We're
proud to continue our partnership with him for years to come."

"Our relationship with Nike is more than a shoe deal," Maverick
Carter, CEO of LRMR, told CNBC. "It's more like a joint venture —
meaning we are working to build a business. His latest shoe, the LeBron
VII designed by Jason Petrie is the best selling shoe we've ever had in
LeBron's line."

James lived up to the hype he created when he was a high schooler
getting ready to play in the NBA – he delivered on the court. He was
seen as the successor to Michael Jordan, sports biggest brand name ever.
However there has been and will only be one Michael Jordan.

“What happened with Nike and LeBron has proved that the days when a
single athlete dominated like Jordan are completely over,” said Matt
Powell, analyst for SportsOneSource, a sports market retail tracking
firm. “It took Nike about six years to come up with LeBron shoes that
were commercially viable and even then it paled in comparison to
Jordan’s standard.”

“LeBron is one of the most important endorsers to Nike,” Jordan’s
longtime agent David Falk said in the CNBC report. “And I think, from
the beginning, it was unfair to compare him to Jordan. The model
everyone was talking about just couldn’t be replicated.”

“I don’t think any basketball player is making $10 million a year in
guaranteed money on a shoe deal ever again,” said Sonny Vaccaro, who has
worked with all the shoe companies and convinced Nike to spend its
entire basketball marketing budget on Jordan in 1984. “All my life, I
said there would never be another Jordan and now we know. It wasn’t
Kobe. And it wasn’t LeBron.”

James’ first NBA contract was the standard three year contract
offered to all NBA rookies. As the first overall selection James was
offered more than the other members of the 2003 NBA draft class. At the
end of the 2005-06 season, James negotiated a three-year contract
extension, with a player option for a fourth year. The contract was
worth $60 million and began at the start of the 2007–08 season. Although
it was for fewer years and less money than the maximum he could sign,
it allowed him the option of seeking a new contract worth more money as
an unrestricted free agent following the 2010 season. He had discussed
this with fellow members of his 2003 draft class, Dwyane Wade and Chris
Bosh, who also re-signed with their respective teams while allowing them
to be unrestricted agents in 2010.

In the seven seasons LeBron James represented the Cleveland Cavaliers
he won two NBA MVP awards, led the NBA in scoring one year and was
selected as an All-Star six of the seven seasons. The Cavaliers made the
playoffs in James’ last five seasons in Cleveland, losing in the
playoffs and never coming close to winning an NBA championship.

James became a free-agent at 12:01 am ET on July 1, 2010. He filed
papers to formally change his jersey number 23 to 6 for the season.
James was courted by several teams, including the Knicks, Nets, Heat,
Bulls, Clippers, and his hometown Cavaliers.

On July 8, 2010, James announced on a live ESPN special, The
Decision, that he would be playing for the Miami Heat for the 2010–11
season and teaming with Miami's other All-Star free agent signees Dwyane
Wade and Chris Bosh. The Decision was broadcasted from the Boys and
Girls Club of Greenwich, Connecticut. The Decision came during the “dog
days of summer”. Major League Baseball was nearing their All-Star break;
both the NBA and the NHL had completed their playoffs. NFL training
camps were three weeks ago. The biggest team sport player of his era
announcing where he would be taking his talents attracted all of the
attention and ratings numbers ESPN dreamed it would.

“In this fall...this is very tough...in this fall I'm going to take
my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat. I feel like it's
going to give me the best opportunity to win and to win for multiple
years, and not only just to win in the regular season or just to win
five games in a row or three games in a row, I want to be able to win
championships. And I feel like I can compete down there.” James
announced.

LeBron joined Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami – the three leading
members of the NBA’s 2010 free agent all playing for the same team.
James had made the right basketball decision. He wanted to win an NBA
championship and believed he had given Cleveland seven years of his
career. He had, the Cavaliers hadn’t won and James wanted to play for a
team he believed had a better chance to win.

LeBron James had made the right basketball decision – he had gone
about announcing that decision in the wrong way. The Event was a public
relations disaster – an unmitigated disaster. James appeared as an aloof
pro-typical athlete who had kicked his hometown (Cleveland) under the
bus. What LeBron should have done – signed with the Heat, allowed Miami
to hold a press conference, instead The Event turned into an
embarrassment for LeBron James – an athlete who had worked so hard on
crafting his image during his seven years in the NBA.

Michael Jordan won his first NBA championship when he was 28. LeBron
James is 27. Three MVP’s in his first nine years in the NBA, but that
was for how James has played in the regular season. Jordan won five
MVP’s with the Bulls, but six NBA Finals MVP awards – recognized for
each of the six NBA titles Jordan led the Bulls too. LeBron James may
win his first NBA title this year, he certainly will win several NBA
championships but until he does LeBron James will not receive the
respect he likely craves.

About Me

The evolution of Howard Bloom’s career took a dramatic change in the spring of 1997, when Howard began publishing SportsBusinessNews.com. In its fifteen years, SBN has evolved into the largest and one of the most influential sports industry publications.